Sunday, July 20, 2008

Batman!


Lets' get back to the character that started it all for me--Batman!

A pal once looked at some of these early drawings of mine and commented on how violent they were. Batman and Robin were always depicted hitting, punching, slugging, crushing, gouging, kneeing, clubbing, tripping, or kicking their foes.  And why not? That's what they did, right? Both in the comics and on reruns of their 1966 live-action show, the DYNAMIC duo kept in constant motion! If you draw Tarzan, you depict him swinging on a jungle vine, no?

But, yes, these do seem awful extreme to be a child's drawings.

I was learning to use such comics art conventions as impact bursts, jiggle lines, speed lines, etc. Still pushing that extreme depth, with overlapping, foreshortening, and size relationships really accented.

I figure this illo comes from 1975 or so, from a Silver Age Carmine Infantino-drawn Batman reprint in the back pages of the dearly departed mag BATMAN FAMILY. Always dug the villain Cluemaster, Riddler rip-off or not.

Have NO idea what that black mass is I put behind Robin., Shadow? The inside of his cape?

Notice, too, how one of the foes Robin is manhandling and generally abusing is the Joker.

Speaking of details-I recall HAVING to put those exact TWO stripes n Robin's sleeves back then. Every time. My slavish attention to costume detail.

I also seemed to be influenced by the Mego Robin head sculpt then. That blockhead look, cowlick hair, large black mask...



3 comments:

Tommy! said...

Love the "little kid art" of Batman & Robin! Looks like Batman is kicking some @$$! Who is that? The Riddler?

Tommy! said...

( Never heard of "Cluemaster" ) Looking him up in Batman Encyclopedia...

Arthur Brown was a failed game show host who became a super-criminal. He taunted Batman & the police with clues ( yeah, Riddler rip-off ).

First Appearance: Detective Comics #351, May 1966.

Unknown said...

Hi Al! What a great idea for a blog. I'm a big fan of your artwork, and it's great to see a fellow artist's "humble beginnings". I have some similar drawings in my collection of stuff somewhere (my mom saved a bunch of it).

Welcome to the world of blogging. Hey, don't let lack of free time stop you...though it can certainly be a challenge at times.

Anyway, great start!